Who Cares for the Carer
by JantoJones
Summary: Where does Ianto go when he needs care?


The team were silent as they entered the hub. Nobody was in the mood to utter anything following the morning they'd had. A family of four had been wiped out when a rift storm had deposited two vicious killers in a remote part of Bute Park. Owen and Tosh had dealt with the bodies, Gwen had kept the police away and Jack and Ianto had gone after the aliens.

It had taken the two men only half an hour to locate and kill them. Ianto found himself shocked at the swiftness of Jack's justice. The captain saw himself as a protector of Earth in general and of Cardiff in particular. He took it personally when its citizens were attacked. This was even more so when the victims included children.

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An hour after arriving back at the hub, the only voice which could be heard was Owen's. He was doing the first of the autopsies on the children, dictating his report as he went. He'd decided to do the children first to get the horrific task over and done with.

Ianto watched from the upper gantry. He could tell Owen was having a tough time of it. He was barely holding his emotions himself. The sight of the young boy, lying with a y-shaped incision, was almost too much to bear. The Welshman removed his jacket and rolled his sleeves up. He then took a protective apron from the nearby hook and, fastening around himself, joined Owen by the table.

"What can I do?" he asked quietly.

Owen looked up at Ianto and gave him a grim nod of thanks.

When the autopsies on the children were done, Owen decided to call it a day. The parents could wait until tomorrow. Before heading out to the nearest bar, he patted Ianto on the shoulder in silent gratitude.

********************************************

Emerging back into the main hub, Ianto came across Tosh, weeping softly at her workstation. She was trying to alter the CCTV footage of Jack and Ianto destroying the aliens. She'd only just gotten around to it, due to being very upset. Ianto placed a hand on her arm.

"Let me," he offered.

Tosh seemed to be about to argue, but Ianto gently pulled her from the stool. He gave her a brief hug before taking up her vacant position.

Watching the footage was not pleasant. It scared Ianto to see Jack in full-on vengeance mode. He worked quickly to alter the images, erasing the sickening deaths of the aliens from the record. There would be no erasing it from his memory or his dreams.

********************************************

It dawned on Ianto that Gwen was missing. A brief search with the security cameras revealed her to be in the rec-room. He went down there, armed with tissues.

Gwen had been crying for some time, judging by how red her eyes were. She was definitely Torchwood's heart. Ianto pulled a couple of tissues from the box and held them out for her. She accepted them with a tight smile. Sitting down beside her, Ianto put his arm around Gwen's shoulder. She leant against him and cried uncontrollably. It took every ounce of Ianto's willpower not to start crying himself.

They sat like that for a considerable amount of time. Once Gwen had cried herself out and composed herself, she kissed Ianto on the cheek and went back to work.

********************************************

The day was over and the only people left in the hub were Jack and Ianto. The captain had spent the afternoon in his office, resolutely avoiding everyone. He'd buried himself in mind-numbing paperwork in a effort to forget the day's events. Jack had been witness to many horrendous things but was still unable to divorce his feelings from any of them.

Ianto slid discretely into the room with a mug of Jack's favourite coffee in his hand. Before handing it over, he added a generous measure of whiskey. Placing it front of Jack, Ianto kissed him gently on the forehead, before sliding back out of the room.

********************************************

Ianto couldn't face going home to his empty flat but, he didn't want to stay in the hub either. It didn't take him long to decide where to go instead. After parking up in front a house in Cathays, he let himself into the front door.

"Evening son, are you joining us for dinner? You're Mam is making enough for an army as usual."

"I'd love to Dad, thanks."

He made his way to the kitchen where his mother was in the middle of preparing the meal.

"Hello Mam."

Mrs Jones temporarily abandoned her task to give her son a hug and a kiss.

"How's work, sweetheart?"

"Oh, you know Mam, same old, same old."

The End


End file.
